Andrzej Kolikowski (1954 – 5 December 1999), nicknamed ''Pershing'', was the leader of the so-called ''Pruszków mafia'' in Poland and arguably the best-known Polish gangster of the 1990s. He was assassinated by his enemies while on vacation in

Zakopane Zakopane ( Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the extreme south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has been par ...

. Kolikowski was born in

Ożarów Mazowiecki Ożarów Mazowiecki is a town in Poland, just to the west of Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on th ...

. He was first arrested by the police at the age of 17. When he graduated from a car service school, he started working for a local cable factory. In 1980s he first went to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, from where he started smuggling dollars, cars and other goods unavailable in communist-controlled Poland. There he also met his later accomplices: Jeremiasz Barański (''Baranina'') and Nikodem Skotarczak (''Nikoś''). He invested the money in an illegal casino opened in Warsaw in late 1980s. In 1989, Kolikowski formed a group of roughly 100 people supporting his business. Among the best-known of its members were Mirosław Danielak (nicknamed ''Malizna''), Leszek Danielak (''Wańka''), Zygmunt Raźniak (''Bolo''), Andrzej Banasiak (''Słowik''), Ryszard Szwarc (''Kajtek'') and Janusz Prasol (''Parasol''). In 1992 the group joined the Pruszków mafia, the largest and the most influential

mob Mob or MOB may refer to: Behavioral phenomena * Crowd * Smart mob, a temporary self-structuring social organization, coordinated through telecommunication Crime and law enforcement * American Mafia, also known as the Mob * Irish Mob, a US crimin ...

at the time. As one of its leaders, Kolikowski started investing in legal ventures:

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

s, discos and such. He is also often credited as the person behind the popularity of "

disco polo Disco polo is a music genre, genre of popular music, popular dance music, created in Poland in the 1980s, it was initially known as "sidewalk music" ()Anna KowalczyKrótka historia disco polo"Wiedza i Życie". Nr 9/1997. (Polish language, Polis ...

" music genre, promoted by the labels he owned or sponsored. In 1994 he survived the first of assassination attempts: a bomb had been planted under his car. In August of that year he was arrested by the police, together with 19 members of the

Pruszków Pruszków ( yi, ‏פּרושקאָוו) is a city in east-central Poland, situated in the Masovian Voivodeship since 1999. It was previously in Warszawa Voivodeship (1975–1998). Pruszków is the capital of Pruszków County, located along t ...

group. Accused of

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

, handling,

counterfeit To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...

and

coercion Coercion () is compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner by the use of threats, including threats to use force against a party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to induce a desi ...

, two years later he was sentenced to four years in prison. About that time his group divided and one of the off-springs gained notoriety under the command of Marek Czarnecki (''Rympałek''). Kolikowski left prison in 1998 and returned to his former activities. However, by that time the war over control of the Pruszków mafia was raging and his position was seriously endangered. In addition, one of the off-springs created after the arrest of the initial chiefs of the Pruszków group - dubbed the Wołomin mafia - gained much influence. While on vacation, Kolikowski was killed in a shooting in

on December 5, 1999. Ryszard Bogucki was convicted for the murder of Kolikowski and sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment, with the possibility of parole after 20 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolikowski, Andrzej 1954 births 1999 deaths 20th-century Polish criminals Polish gangsters Murdered gangsters Extortionists Forgers Polish murder victims People murdered in Poland Polish prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Poland